Saturday, January 31, 2009

Happy Anniversary to me!

I wrote about it last year, and I'm writing about it again this year. Today is my two year anniversary at my current job.

Today is Saturday, but yesterday I brought in French Toast Bake in the Crockpot to celebrate. My boss was out of the office, and I wish he could have been there to partake. While there was a burnt edge that ended up in the trash, it was basically a hit.

Celebrating my anniversary at work seems a little nutty, but as I mentioned before, starting my current job in many ways signaled the end of a very difficult phase of my life.

And much like Christmas, this is a time of year that I remember how lucky I am. And with the current economy, it rings truer than ever. I have a reasonably secure job with decent pay, bonuses for performance and benefits.

And I work with people that I like. The management pays cares about morale. (Unlike my last job, where anything outside of our day to day work was frowned upon.) I got balloons on my birthday. We took time out to celebrate the end of the fiscal year. We have potlucks, and we have holiday parties. (Unfortunately, I missed this year's party.)

My boss listens to me. He tries to help me with my work-related problems, and is sympathetic to the challenges in my personal life. When I was in the hospital, nobody was asked me to see how soon I could be back at work. And when I returned, people asked me if I was ok. They didn't bitch about having to pick up my slack.

And at 5 p.m., I'm done. I get to live the rest of my life. No weekend assignments or late night meetings.

So I've been spending a lot of time bitching and moaning about work, but I really am lucky.

And two years ago, I couldn't say that. All I wanted in the world was a decent paying job with people I liked. I'd been basically unemployed for about six months (with the exception of a low-paying part time job.) My last job had driven me to (and maybe past) the breaking point. And I was living with my parents.

So while I'm thankful, I'm acknowledging that I'm way past the survival mode I was in two years ago. I have other ambitions.

Last night after work I met with some entrepreneurial-minded coworkers. We tossed around our ideas and dreams. And I realized one thing.

I need a business plan if I ever really want to achieve my dreams.

I've spent a lot of time tossing around ideas and dreaming, but I need to make something concrete. So far, I've been using the Underpants Gnomes Model of business.

(ETA - There's some naughty words in the Underpants Gnomes clip, if that kind of things bothers you. Probably NSFW.)

So for now, I have one New Year's Resolution.

By the end of February, I want to have a business plan in place. With some specific goals and deadlines.